Professional Documents
Culture Documents
45 (1)
51-58
Tampa, FL (USA)
January 2016
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Abstract:
Keywords:
Lava tubes and channels forming lava distributaries have been recognized from different
parts of western Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP). Openings of smaller dimension have been
documented from the phoehoe flows around Pune, in the western DVP. A small lava cave is
exposed in Ghoradeshwar hill, near Pune. Detailed field studies of the physical characteristics,
structure and morphology of the flows hosting the lava tube has been carried out. This is
the first detailed documentation of a lava cave from the DVP. The lava cave occurs in a
compound phoehoe flow of Karla Formation, characterized by the presence of lobes, toes
and small scale features like squeeze-ups. Field observations and measurements reveal that
the dimensions of the cave are small, with low roof and a maximum width of 108 cm. The cave
morphology along the 20 m passage varies from circular to semi-circular, with a twilight zone
to the north. The gentle micro-topography at Ghoradeshwar controlled the advancement of
phoehoe lobes and toes within the sheet lobe. The pre-flow gradients towards the north led to
the progression of flow from the east, where the cave opening is presently seen. Dimensions
and related morphology of the lava cave suggest that it can be best described as a small subcrustal cave formed by draining of an inflated phoehoe lava lobe. At Ghoradeshwar, besides
the natural lava cave, Buddhist caves carved in phoehoe lava flows are also observed,
indicating that early man took advantage of the existing openings in phoehoe flows and
sculpted the caves to suit their requirements.
Deccan Volcanic Province; speleology; drained lobe; lava cave
Citation:
Pawar N.R., Katikar A.H., Vaddadi S., Shinde S.H., Rajaguru S.N., Joshi S.V. and Eksambekar
S.P., 2016. The genesis of a lava cave in the Deccan Volcanic Province (Maharashtra, India).
International Journal of Speleology, 45 (1), 51-58. Tampa, FL (USA) ISSN 0392-6672
http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1827-806X.45.1.1935
INTRODUCTION
The Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP) basalts spread
over half a million square kilometres and cover major
parts of western, central India and sub-central parts
of Peninsular India. The basalts and associated
volcanic suite of rocks were emplaced over a time
span from 69 to 63 Ma, with the major volcanic pulse
at 66.90.2 Ma (Hooper et al., 2010). The bulk of the
DVP is made up of phoehoe and a flows of varying
thicknesses (5 30 m). The stratigraphic classification
of the western DVP has been established based on
lithological, geochemical and palaeomagnetic studies
(Godbole et al., 1996; Subbarao and Hooper, 1988).
*pawarnikr@gmail.com
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Pawar et al.
GEOLOGY
Ghoradeshwar hill, located in the Pune district,
western Maharashtra is an eastward extension of an
offshoot ridge from the Sahyadri mountain range and
forms interfluves between the Indrayani and Pauna
rivers, which drain the northern and southern parts
respectively (Fig. 1). On the southern flank of the hill
at an elevation of about 790 m, there is a cave opening
facing east having a height of 148 cm and width of
310 cm (Fig. 1). The hill slopes have a steep gradient
with a thin (0 - 30 cm) veneer of regolith.
The cave occurs in flows belonging to the Karla
Formation of the Lonavala Sub group. The flows
of Karla Formation are older than the Diveghat
Formation of the Wai Sub group, which has been
dated by 40Ar/39Ar, indicating an age range of 66.2
to 65.3 Ma (Hooper et al., 2010). Hence, it is evident
that the flows of Karla Formation which host the lava
caves predate 66.2 Ma, but must be younger than the
onset of the DVP eruptions 69 Ma.
The Deccan basalts have undergone considerable
erosion since their eruption, with major uplift affecting
the western Indian margin throughout the Tertiary
period (Widdowson, 1997). This uplift and extensive
erosion of the Deccan plateau, in the Tertiary times
has resulted in the development and evolution of
Deccan palaeosurfaces. More recent erosion of the
resultant upland plateau with isolated hills and hill
ranges has exposed the lava cave. Weathering and
solution activity due to seepage of water has modified
the caves further.
The phoehoe flows are made up of several small
flow units/lobes varying in thickness from a few
centimetres to a maximum of 5 m. Two compound
phoehoe flows can be demarcated, based on the
presence of a thin, interflow horizon, a red bole (Fig. 2).
The lower compound flow is exposed from the base of
the hill to about 800 m above msl. It is a very sparsely
phyric flow with more or less rounded vesicles and
is highly vesicular and amygdular in nature. A few
vesicular units resemble spongy phoehoe flow. The
cave occurs in the lower flow. At the cave entrance, fine
grained, highly vesicular phoehoe units are exposed.
The upper compound flow is sparsely phyric, massive
in nature and jointed. Joint sets trend NW-SE and
so do the major fractures. A doleritic dyke, trending
NW-SE, occupying one such a fracture, intrudes the
lava pile.
The phoehoe flows are thus made up of laterally
extensive inter-fingering flow units or lobes, resulting
in an irregular micro-topography. These flows resemble
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Fig. 1. A) and B) Location map of the study area; C) 3-D view of Ghoradeshwar hill (Google Earth); D) White arrows indicates the location of manmade Buddhist caves towards the south-west side; E) Location of the natural lava cave towards the eastern side.
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Fig. 3. A) Four flow units in Phoehoe (red line marks the reddened crust); B) Squeeze-up (shown by an arrow) in the phoehoe flow;
length of the pen is 13.5 cm; C) Close up of the chilled reddened crust marking the unit contact. HVZ- Horizontal Vesicle Zone,
UVZ Upper Vesicular Zone, PVZ- Pipe vesicle zone.
OBSERVATION
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Pawar et al.
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Depth
Material
%
Phosphate
%
P2O5
%
Fluorine
Ratio
(F/P)
40 cm
Bone
10.5
23.62
0.12
0.508
47 cm
Bone
9.7
21.82
0.24
1.099
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1.
2.
Table 2. Fluorine /Phosphate ratio in fossilized bones from sites of different periods/ cultures and various region
giving their approximate ages (Joshi 2006-07).
Site/ Region
Period/ Culture
late Holocene
Approximate age
100F/ P2O5
<1
1-2
7 ka 10 ka
2.10-3.70
10 ka 20 ka
3-5
20 ka 40 ka
4.24 - 6
> 40 ka
7.70 8.15
0.1 Ma 0.2 Ma
6.73 8.39
0.7 Ma 1.8 Ma
6.66 8.45
Tertiary period
8.15 - 9.42
8.92
DISCUSSION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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CULTURAL ASPECT
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